Mates
Mate is the Clan terminology for a partnership between a tom and a she-cat. Taking a Mate Two cats are usually considered mates after spending some time together, and are seen sharing tongues often, and after some kind of confession of love, or asking them if they would like to be mates. Usually when cats are apprentices or warriors, they will show some sort of affection toward a certain cat. Clan cats usually take a mate from the same Clan, although there are examples of pairings from different Clans or groups. However, sometimes cats from different Clans will mate secretly despite it being against the warrior code. An example is Moonberry and Talonstar. It is not unusual for a cat to have more than one mate, especially toms. After a while, if they stop showing affection, or if their mate dies, they will usually take on a new mate. Breaking Up In the Warriors universe, breaking up is fairly rare, but can happen. Reasons Mates break up mainly for the following reasons: *They decide they are not suited for each other anymore or don't truly love each other. *One cat does not love the other anymore. * One cat does not truly love their mate back and has feelings for another. *Ending a relationship of forbidden love by mutual agreement, recognizing that loyalty to their Clan is more important than their love. *Disagreements, mistrust, misunderstanding. *Disappointment in their mate's actions or behavior. *One of the cats *One of the cats dies. In some cases, mates will get back together some time after breaking up, though this is fairly rare. Restrictions *Taking a cat from another Clan (or a non-Clan cat) as mate is implicitly forbidden by the first rule of The Warrior Code, as such pairings are considered a sign of disloyalty. Kits born from such relations are named half-Clan, and are usually not trusted. *Medicine cats, either male or female, are not allowed to take mates, in order to be fully dedicated to their medicine cat duties, though this rule is often broken. *Apprentices do not take mates because they are too young, and that if females were to give birth to kits, it would distract them from their duties, though they do sometimes show affection Related Romances There are a variant relationships with similar aspects to mates, either in mutual affection, mutual displays of affection, and/or breaking the warrior code to meet with another Clan cat at night. However, these couplings are never considered official mates for varying reasons and never resulted in kits. Keep in mind, none of these cats ever become mates, but it is largely hinted that they might have become mates later. Reasons Common reasons why these aren't true mates are the following: *One or both were apprentices at the time and too young for a mate. *It was forbidden by the warrior code and one or both would refuse to break it. *Were never in an official relationship. *Were never clearly described as mates or resulted in kits. *Author realized they were related. *Author discrepancies. List of Mates SkyClan *Foxleap and Blackstorm *Frostash and Firetail *Ripplestream and Otterpelt WindClan * Flowerfall and Stormshadow RiverClan Unknown ShadowClan * Silverpaw and Russetpaw (Unofficially; they have a crush on each other) * Frostface and Goldenwhisker ThunderClan * Shadowstep and Mintbreeze Half-Clan * Charink (WindClan) and Waterfall (RiverClan) Clanless Cats Unknown